Berghain resident Marcel Fengler has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the club’s label Ostgut Ton, putting out his first 12″ on the imprint – the shuffling carnival techno of “Playground” – way back in 2007. Despite this pedigree, Fokus is his debut album. It is, in many ways, like an extended love letter to electronic music, and techno in particular. Across the album’s 11 tracks, Fengler turns his hand to atmospheric ambience (“Distant Episode”, “High Falls”, the dreamy “Break Through” and Pete Namlook-ish “Liquid Torso”), eyes-wide-shut Detroitisms (the pleasingly melodic “Jaz”), basement-bothering early morning fare (the paranoid “Sky Pushing”) and, of course, balls-out techno wonkiness (“Dejavu” and the impressively robust “The Stampede”).

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